Habs Future

But the indefatigable Robert Rice (SeriousFan09) checks in with his weekly look at Canadiens prospects.

THREE STARS

1. C Michaël Bournival rises to the top of the field as his hard work forced a Game 7 for his Shawinigan Cataractes in the QMJHL Playoffs against the Quebec Ramparts as he scored two goals and three assists over the week. Bournival helped shape the series comeback on Tuesday night when he scored a goal and assist in an eventual 6-3 win that allowed the Cataractes to take their first win in the series. Bournival went without a point on Wednesday in a loss that saw the team fall behind 3-1 series, but he recovered quickly enough. Friday night saw Shawinigan’s captain assist on a go-ahead goal that eventually allowed the Cataractes an overtime win to bring the series to a 3-2 deficit. Bournival furthered his contributions with an assist and the eventual game-winning goal on Sunday to force a win and a decisive Game 7 contest for the following week. Bournival is tied for the team lead in scoring with five goals and seven assists in eleven games.

2. C Andreas Engqvist has stepped into an important role for the Hamilton Bulldogs as they’ve entered the AHL playoffs. Engqvist spent the season as their key defensive forward but with the team’s scoring depth thin, he’s now had to add offensive contributions in the post-season. Engqvist assisted on the game-winning goal on Thursday night in a 5-2 win over the Oklahoma City Barons and added an assist on one of two insurance goals as the Bulldogs took a 1-0 series lead. When scoring was a little more sparse on Saturday afternoon, Engqvist scored the tying goal in an eventual 2-1 win for the Bulldogs allowing them to take a 2-0 series lead on the road against their 1st-round playoff opponent.

3. RW Aaron Palushaj continues to keep up his hard work that has allowed him to stick with the top line of Nigel Dawes and Dustin Boyd on the Hamilton Bulldogs by sticking to being a point per game player in the AHL Playoffs. Palushaj added an insurance goal on Thursday night to ensure the Bulldogs win over the Oklahoma City Barons to take a 1-0 series lead. On Saturday, Palushaj assisted on the game-winning goal in the 2-1 victory for the Hamilton Bulldogs to allow them to take a 2-0 series lead heading to the Barons home ice. Palushaj was officially awarded the Molson Cup for leading the Hamilton Bulldogs in Three Stars selections by the media during the regular season and was also named the Flamboro Downs “Workhorse of the Year” for the hardest-working Bulldogs player over the season.

Worthy Mentions: D Brendon Nash was named Rookie of the Year for the Hamilton Bulldogs by the local press. C Louis Leblanc was eliminated from the QMJHL Playoffs, but finished tied for the goal-scoring lead on his team with 6 goals in 10 games. LW Phillippe Lefebvre was also eliminated from the QMJHL playoffs, but not before tying his playoff scoring record of 5 goals and 3 assists in nine fewer games than his career best in 2008-2009.

Question Marks: RW Alexander Avtsin was scratched for the two opening playoff games by the Hamilton Bulldogs. LW Alain Berger was eliminated from the OHL Playoffs as his team the Oshawa Generals were defeated in five games. G Robert Mayer is unlikely to start a game in the AHL playoffs for Hamilton with Drew Macintyre definitely the starting man for the team.

The AHL Report: The Hamilton Bulldogs have been the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens since 2002. It is the most common route for developing Montreal Canadiens prospects into full-time members of the organization. There are currently 12 members of the Hamilton Bulldogs that can be considered NHL-viable prospects, four of which, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty, Yannick Weber and Ryan White have been called up to Montreal. The Hamilton Bulldogs had a regular a record of 44-27-2-7, won their second consecutive North Division Title, finished 3rd overall in the Western Conference and 7th overall in the AHL. The Bulldogs lead the Oklahoma City Barons 2-0 in the Quarter-Finals of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs.
RW Alexander Avtsin: 20 years old, 6’2″, 199 pounds, RH shot.

The Juniors Report: The Canadiens currently feature prospects playing in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and the Western Hockey League (WHL). These leagues can be considered the primary conduit towards professional hockey in North America.

US College Hockey (NCAA) Report: The Canadiens have drafted a number of college players in recent years, these are generally ‘project players’ who benefit from additional years in lower level hockey to develop their skills.
D Mac Bennett: 19 years old, 6′, 180 pounds, LH shot.

NCAA Team: University of Michigan Wolverines (29W, 11L, 4T)

Season Stats: 32GP, 2G, 10A, +12, 21 PIM

RW Danny Kristo: 20 years old, 6′, 188 pounds, RH shot.

NCAA Team: University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux (32W, 9L, 3T)

Season Stats: 34GP, 8G, 20A, +6, 18 PIM

D Greg Pateryn: 21 years old, 6’3”, 222 pounds. RH shot.

NCAA Team: University of Michigan Wolverines (29W, 11L, 4T)

Season Stats: 40GP, 3G, 14A, +15, 28 PIM

C Dustin Walsh: 20 years old, 6’3”, 190 pounds, LH shot.

NCAA Team: Dartmouth College Big Green (19W, 12L, 3T)

Season Stats: 34GP, 10G, 10A, +2, 8 PIM

Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) Report: The Kontinental Hockey League is the professional hockey league of Russia, many Russian players first play professionally there before joining the NHL. Due to a lack of a player transfer agreement between the NHL and the KHL it can be very difficult for NHL clubs to bring over their drafted Russian prospects.
G Karri Ramo: 24 years old, 6’3″, 207 pounds, catches left.

Hyenas are neither brave nor smart, they’re just hyenas. Blaming it all on Pouliot, slagging off Halak (more than a few here who do that, even some Gazetteers are guilty of it too)…bizarre. No wonder we can’t get free agents to come here. The cuckoo’s nest.

“This has to be the mother of all brain-dead decisions.” – Red Fisher on the Jaroslav Halak trade.

Anyone know why the B’s went to Lake Placid? To find motivation? Or perhaps avoid getting shot in Montreal? Just curious, I hope they all catch the Northern NY crud that comes this time of year. Lake Placid is a wonderful place, if you never been, I am from near there, a must see for all hockey fans!

moen,pyatt,white,eller,darche,pouliot,gomez,dd …when you have 8 forwards in the team that are not goal scorers or have not shown they can consistently score in the nhl you will struggle to score…we may badly outplay boston and still get beat 2-1 or 1-0…this issue is not new it has been going on for 2 years…we have the type of team that can win 4 in a row or lose 4 in a row by 2-1 scores

Toccett pled guilty to taking bets FROM NHL players and carrying them to a bookmaker his partner. AND Bettman lets him come back and coach Tampa Bay. OH YES, in the year in between when it became public, Tochett took a leave of absense from the NHL and surprise , surprise Tochett then appeared as a contestant on the World Series of Poker whose commissioner is Bettman’s half brother – same mother – Jeffrey Pollock.

if the nhl is fixed than why does it make a difference who our gm is..if that is the case why even watch or care what trades your team makes or what players it drafts…it does not make a difference as the nhl is pre-determined…so it makes no sense to rant on gauthier,martin or gainey…

GOOD QUESTION. But not every game and certainly not 99% of the participants – but above them when Bettman and his owners have such power, they can get things done.

This man brings in crooks as owners – islanders previous one, boots del baggio, jacobs of bruins is huge in gambling industry, takes nhl awards to vegas where he wants to put a team, asociates players with poker gambling to addict kids to poker – people dont play it for fun they play poker cause they get hooked. his brother the poker commissioner. van hellemond a former ref known widely as a big gambler bettman made head of refs association until too many complaints from refs that van hellemond tried to get them to pay him money so theyd get more games to work. but a honest guy AND A BILLIONAIRE like balsillie he refuses to let have a team.

refs can determine games. bettman controls them. he is too friendly with gambling. and the inconcistancy of playing effort seen in this league may very well be traced back to him and his owners closest to him.

the league when it had 6 teams one owner controlled all 4 american teams and the international boxing association – james norris – another crook. this is who ran NHL hockey then and today its little different.

Yes greenies and kiddies the Bettman(Bet is his name as are all his close associates gambling people) yes this Bettman Hockey League is on the level. Vancouver up 3 games to zero over a team who should not even be in these playoffs, but Chicago was the favorite because THE WISE GUYS MONEY knew this was going to happen and it was their money that made them the favorite.

Vancouver 13 shots first 2 periods, Chicago 26. The center of the rink in front of Luongo always wide open for Hawks to jump into and shoot from.

Note- I see one of NHLs TV telecast sponsors “Poker Stars” was busted by ICE/FBI a couple of days ago!

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Oh, oh, I know this one: When your mom’s Blythe Danner – who was in Futureworld, the sequel to the kickass Westworld, the latter starrin’ Yul “So It Is Written, So It Shall Be Done” Brynner as a kickass robot cowboy – and who probably also boinked ’70s TV megastar Alan Alda on the sly?

Thankful to have read the whole thread afore flyin off the cuff.
Truth is, you’re both right. She’s a megababe I’d watch in anything; that innocent-lookin, borderline submissive, overly-sentimental look from that slim blondie, mrraaooowwww, are you kidding me?
But “Talented Ripley” was indeed the only time she displayed better-than-average talent.
In fact, she deserves credit for having an agent who puts her in the proper roles. Shows she has smarts.

TORONTO – The Canadian Association of Retired Persons has launched a petition to have Don Cherry and Bob Cole removed from CBC hockey broadcasts.
“They’re giving old people a bad rep,” complained CARP president Bob Hoodah. “One’s a buffoon and the other should have joined CARP a long time ago. Their Best Before date was last century.”
Hoodah said Cherry’s bombastic assertions, repeated ad nauseam – in each broadcast – are damaging the image of seniors.
“It used to be we were supposed to get wiser as we got older,” Hoodah said. “Now we have a whole generation who thinks we get wackier. And have horrible taste in clothes.”
Hoodah said Cole is also hurting seniors’ reputation.
“He mixes up names all the time, which might be mildly amusing – if he didn’t get paid to do play-by-play,” Hoodah said. “Bit of a game changer, isn’t it, when you don’t know the players’ names. Would you use a bingo caller who’s dyslexic?’
Cherry guffawed when told of CARP’s petition.
“CARP? Don’t you mean CRAP?” he roared. “Retired folk, eh. Hah. More like a bunch of lazy bums, if you ask me. Turn 70 and suddenly they don’t feel like working? They got nothing better to do than go after a couple of working stiffs? Gimme a break. They’re probably the ones who brought in old age pensions and free health care. It’s that kind of attitude that’s making our country soft.”
“You know how many cuts I had to stitch myself. Eyeballs I had to put back in the socket. Concussions I sucked up and had to shake the cobwebs away. I didn’t need any government telling me when and how to get well.”
“Sure, let them go ahead with their petition. Got one piece of advice for them, though: They’ll get more signatures if they put McLean’s and Milbury’s names on the list instead.”
Told of CARP’s petition, Cole immediately asked where to sign.
“I’m a cod man, myself. Never did like carp, so getting rid of them is fine by me.”
After it was explained a second time what the seniors association was hoping to accomplish, Cole said he’s never been a member of the Communist Party.
CBC officials say they will resist any attempt to take Cherry off Hockey Night in Canada – “the lunatic audience is a larger demographic than you think,” said one – but they admitted they have tried to alter the format of game coverage to suit Cole’s mature talents. However, a leaked recording of a trial broadcast indicates further work is needed: “…56 passes to 23 who carries it over the blueline, he drops it back to 10, 11, 10, 11, no, wait, it is 10 – they move so fast! – who gets hammered by fiff…fiff.. it’s 52! Fifty-six is still on the bench.”
Hoodah takes no joy in trying to end the careers of two giants in Canadian broadcasting.
“They’re provided us with years of entertainment but now it’s time to put them out to pasture,” he said. “Actually, they should be put on icebergs and set adrift. Let them leave in dignity.”

Nice to see other rinks around the league using ridiculously loud, unimaginative music and fake gravelly-voiced announcers to pump up a playoff crowd. Does anyone think for themselves in those jobs or is it all just “this is the way everybody does it so we’ll do it too, only louder and more annoying”?

Hey, it’s my rant for the night and it beats complaining about the Habs 😉
***Subbang Baby!!!***

Whatever happens, somethin’ tells me there’s about as much likelihood that the Bell Centre’s Michel Lacroix adopts that gratingly inane “Woo!” thing after a Habs goal announcement as there is that the Loafs win the Stanley Cup in any year beginnin’ with a “2”.

You’ll note that two in fact rhymes with woo and that this is hardly a coincidence.

Also of interest, Jack Arbour wore the #2 for the Loafs durin’ the 1928-29 season, which also represents the last year the hapless team qualified for the playoffs.

The fact the Broonz org, an erstwhile proud Original Six hockey club, allows this wooness to carry on is surely the reason none of its alumni have, since its adoption, agreed to have their jersey number retired, fearful that their treasured legacy will be perpetually subjected to the woo.

It makes me laugh when people say “Price cost us the game last night” (failing to look at other players defensive lapses leading up to goals).
Carey Price is one of the best puck handling goaltenders I’ve seen in a long time. If he makes one mistake every 20 or 25 passing attempts, that’s a great average. (You just hope that one mistake isn’t in the playoffs, unfortunately it was last night!)
If it wasn’t for Price we’d probably be down 2-1 in the series right now, so I’m not complaining…

Oleksiak going that high would be in the general ballpark of the stupidity that Columbus’s drafting regime has brought about but I don’t see Couturier falling to 9th in any draft seen before today and there is no way Mark McNeill is going in the late teens with the hype going about him these days, he’s favoured in the first fifteen picks now and there’s no way Nicklas Jensen slips to the 2nd round,

you know what guys.. i know this might sound petty and stupid but i still can’t believe how gomez didn’t tie up the game with a wide open net in front of him.. i don’t get this guy… at all… if i scored less goals then darche and only put up 38 points and was an embarassing -15 on the season (worst then the WIZ who came over from the islanders)…then i sure as hell practice my shot and try to help my team in the playoffs… and i know he skates up and down but isn’t that expected of him? i mean how is that something to commend… this guy gets paid 7.3 million and we are complmeneting him on skating hard????
i don’t get it… the faster we are rid off him the better

The world of NHL concussions continues to get cloudier. Chicago will sit out Seabrook tonight after he was hit by Torres. Smart move even though they let him continue to play after the initial hit. On the other hand, they will dress Bolland who has been out with a concussion since March 9th. I guess no thought was given to letting him have another five months to recover.

John Scott will dress in place of Seabrook. That should make the Sedins’ day.

By the looks of Captain Serious’ quasi-meltdown durin’ the post-game interview the other night, even he knows the Hawks’ season is over. Winnin’ a couple more faceoffs with Bolland is hardly worth dressin’ him.

From what I’ve heard/read, Pascal Vincent tends to play a passive trap, which apparently the Lewiston MAINEiacs were ready for and beat them on, plus lack of production from some players. The loss of leading forward Victor Hertzberg to a concussion also set them back a bit.

Now Clode is equating the Chara on Max-Pac hit to Gomez’s shoving of Kelly into the net last night. How low of an IQ is required for employment by this organization?

“Well, he got a penalty for interference. I would say, to be honest with you, it’s a little bit of the Zdeno Chara hit on [Max] Pacioretty,” Julien said. “It’s a hit that turned out badly. I think in Kelly’s case, it was interference [on Gomez], but I don’t think he meant to push him in the net or [have him] go head-first into the post.”

Malcolm Subban apparently having a solid showing at the Under-18 Tournament so far. Which of course will only increase the spotlight on the youngest brother Jordan Subban, which means Habs better be ready to make a deal for the devil to land Jordan in the 2013 draft.

I don’t see anyone on this list who could be a Hab next year. Maybe Palushaj as a sub or if there are a lot of injuries in training camp. Everyone else will require at least another year of seasoning.

It looks like the Habs will have to go shopping during the summer. We need another forward as well as an assortment of Dmen depending on who might return as Hab UFAs. Subban, Spacek , Gorges and Weber are the only holdovers.

I think with a summer of power skating and conditioning, Engqvist could make the jump to be 4th-line centre, he was constantly referred to as the best defensive forward in Hamilton all season, he just need some more training for skating and bulk. For scoring/physical impact I agree, I say cut Benny loose and spend a bit extra to land Scottie Upshall. Habs do face a ‘generation gap’ in their youth program, the next batch of promising players won’t be ready for the show for at least 2 more seasons.

Good news for the Habs is the TV deal may be a big bump for the salary cap as it’s calculated on revenues and the NHLPA so far has never not chosen to use the ‘bump’ in each offseason to increase it.

If Engqvist becomes the 4th line centre that means Eller becomes a winger (assuming DD is the 3rd line guy). That makes me unhappy. Eller and Leblanc are the Hab centres of the future and should be trained as such. I’d take Eller as the checking centre over Engqvist. It would be great training for the future. Halpern is also in the mix assuming he doesn’t want a lot of coin. Moen/Halpern/Eller/White could be a decent bottom four.

BTW, I think that’s the first time I have ever typed the letters gqv in succession!

I don’t think DD is in the long-term plans, I expect him to be dealt as his lack of size is not going to do anything for the Habs to build in the direction they need to in the future. He’s done much better than I expected him to, but at the same time the Habs can’t keep rolling along with such a size mismatch, not with so many big and skilled players joining the NHL these days. Leblanc I think may end up getting converted to the wings, a critique on him is he lacks creativity and may be better suited to being an NHL winger.

Why would you take less money to play halfway around the world in a secondary league? simple answer, because you believe you have a realistic shot at making the big league. I don’t think that belief is gonna be there if Engqvist starts next year with Hamilton and if that happens I suspect he is going back to Djurgarden or will look at the KHL.

I think PG knows this too and given his size and sound defensive skills (a JM type of guy) I suspect Halpern’s spot will be his to lose coming into next year’s training camp. He still has to show he deserves it, but I think JM will give him Eller-like time to do so.

I may be misremembering here, but I think there’s a rookie limit on an AHL team’s playoff roster. It’s likely the reason that Avstin has been a healthy scratch.

At 19 years old, and showing a commitment to North American hockey, I’m not sure rushing him to question mark status is really necessary. I’m very looking forward to seeing him play next year after some off-season cross-training. He was very much a boy in a man’s league, but I could definitely see flashes of skill that you don’t see very often.

Unfortunately Aaron Dell has already committed to return to North Dakota for his Junior year. On the bright side, he’ll have Danny Kristo, Mike Cichy and Mark MacMillan talking up the MTL organization all season 😉

Quebec was pounding Shawinagan at the beginning of that series. Big surprise and a very pleasant one that Bournival has led them back.

SF if I remember correctly you were talking about potentially doing a piece on the upcoming draft and players of interest to Montreal and I hope you do it cause it would probably be an interesting read. Unfortunately the guy we want, Mark McNeill, looks like he’s flying up the charts to the point where he’s way out of our reach. Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal was pumping McNeill as a guy the Oilers might try and secure a second top 10 pick to get and I don’t the Habs would have the ammunition to get that high in June.

Which irritates me to no end, All the guys I really liked for the power Centre, Power Forward potential (Zibanejad, McNeill) are shooting up the charts and well out of MTL’s reach w/o them making a deal to move up in the draft. I still like Nicklas Jensen for potentially high-end offence, but looking at MTL’s series with BOS, I’d really like for future years to have TWO power forwards, one for each scoring line so the Habs can really lay it on.

Couldn’t agree more. Hopefully Pacioretty comes back at full strength next year and is that guy again (you never know though. As Boone has pointed out more then a few time Eric Cole was never the same again. I watched him in Edmonton for that half season he was here and I couldn’t believe how far his game had fallen).

There are still a couple of options in the middle of round one though. Joel Aramia is falling pretty fast but he’d probably be well worth the 17th pick. Mark Scheifele is another (6″3 175 lbs centre). Boone Jenner is a big centre prospect but has question marks with work ethic and Tyler Biggs (as much as I’m not a fan of USHL/NCAA development vs. CHL) is there to.

Pacioretty is of course a concern, but I have faith. I need to, gotta believe this isn’t nearly the end for this kid. His recovery from the injury thus far is highly encouraging to be ready for next season. I’m also hopeful Steve Quailer makes a great Junior-season comeback in NCAA hockey.

I’ve been tracking the Under-18 Tournament and I haven’t read much solid praise for Armia thus far, seen critique of his skating and hockey sense.

Boone Jenner I’ve heard more the issue is skating, apparently he’s a relentless player but at the same time his skill level may mean no more than 3rd-liner. Biggs, I just have a big “NO” sign attached to him, I’ve never read much about his potential being that high, his stats are terrible this season with no moments of showing more from what I’ve read.

Hmm ya I’m not all that high on Biggs (just not a fan of that development system) kind of like I’m not all that high on Jamie Oleksiak but since he’s built like a sky scraper everyone loves him all of a sudden. Hadn’t heard about Jenner’s skating, just that his attitude was bad (you never know with that stuff though). Armia’s really fallen for a reason I guess then.

Scheifele has a question mark in that he’s only played one OHL season after coming out of Junior B in Ontario but he put up 75 points in 66 games so good production.

“Palushaj was officially awarded the Molson Cup for leading the Hamilton Bulldogs in Three Stars selections by the media during the regular season and was also named the Flamboro Downs “Workhorse of the Year” for the hardest-working Bulldogs player over the season.

This, I like to see. Very much. Thanks again Robert, you’ve done a terrific job with this feature. Lots to check out in the lower ranks as we wait for Thursday!

Nothing really, but Junior-to-NHL is a hard jump and IMO Leblanc isn’t physically ready for the NHL. If he reports to Hamilton soon, it wouldn’t surprise me though, I think both he and Phillippe Lefebvre will be deployed there next season anyway.

I think the Habs learnt their lesson with rushing kids to fast and when you look at how benificial time in the AHL was for Subban and Pacionretty, LeBlanc will probably spent a full year in Hamilton to improve strength and his skating which has been knocked.

This is true, I should have probably said “at least a year” in the AHL. He’s got great intangibles, but they can’t rush him. Unfortunately, Pouliot’s complete bombing out this season will lead to some to start screaming for his call up before he’s ready. I’m really hoping Ian Schultz has a rebound year in Hamilton as well.